A Dreadful Day
by Light1
Summary: Kain heads toward the mansion in the swamp, those watching from the windows have little idea the horror that will unfold.


**A Dreadful Day**

Disclaimer: Legacy of Kain belongs to Edios and Crystal dynamics, they are not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic, it is written purely because I have a burning need to create.

Rating: PG

Part: One of One

Set: During Blood Omen.

Authoress note: Anger makes us do strange things.

**A Dreadful Day**

{Kain}

Kain was miserable, he had fallen asleep miserable, he had woken up miserable and now he was walking, miserably. When he had been human he had been afraid of vampires, he had of course kept this to himself, but he was not a stupid man and therefore feared the creatures that could with little effort tear him into lots of very small pieces. He had known men could kill vampires if the vampire was stupid and the men were not. But the vampires had been physically superior and he had seen them as something to be feared and a little impressed by. He had thought occasionally on what it would be like to be one. Life would be easier had been his main conclusion. Food was plentiful for vampires, physical tasks easier due to enhanced strength and speed, the weaknesses were easy to overcome and goals easier to reach. Yes, being a vampire would have made his life easier. He had since changed his mind. The rain had started two weeks ago and had not stopped, the only difference now was that snow fell with the rain, creating slush. The wind was biting and blew the damp into him, causing partial blindness and great discomfort. He felt half starved having not eaten for three nights; all men seemed to travel in large groups with no stragglers'. He had failed in his last attempt to hunt and had for his trouble depleted his magic reserves, injured his right leg and cracked what part of his armor was not rusting in the freezing rain. All in all it had been a rough few days, but today was topping the list. Today he had woken to find the weather had worsened and men were tracking him. In his hurry to leave before a confrontation he had fallen and was now quiet soaked through and bruised.

The swamp he was currently clambering through was not kind to the vampire as a species and Kain had to wonder why Vorador had chosen it as a home. For surely it was easier and safer for a mortal man to walk through the damp than a vampire. Freeing himself from bracken he leapt across a small expanse of water, landing on a rotten tree. This kindly gave way beneath him and sent him once more sprawling. Cursing everything in existence he pulled himself free and almost fell into another stagnant pool when his leg gave out beneath him. However despite the entire world being against him, Kain grudgingly noticed he was making progress. The mansion was visible now, the stupid lanterns were taking him a bloody roundabout way but they were leading him to the mansion. In his frustration he kicked at one and yelped when it fell towards him almost setting him alight. Further cursing and a few moments later found the fledgling glaring at a large expanse of water wondering how to cross it. It was too large to jump and his magic was all but gone which meant changing form was out of the question. There were rocks and broken trees sporadically placed across the expanse but Kain knew Lady Luck was well and truly tormenting him. So no doubt all the trees would spontaneously catch aflame when he landed on them while breaking apart, so he would fall -on fire- into the pool.

But pacing the edges was not going to get him out of the rain/slush/snow. Walking to where the pool/lake seemed narrowest he risked a jump. The rock he landed on did not catch aflame, but it did wobble. Obviously it was not sunken in enough to be stable, so quickly judging the distance to the next island -which happened to be an overhanging branch- he leapt again. The branch creaked horrendously when he grabbed it, held for a few moments then broke, dropping him into the pool. The water came up to his knees and the muddy bottom tried to suck him further down. His armor protected him for a full thirty seconds before his shins started to burn. With an extremely unhappy sound he leapt free of the water and landed on another rock which did not catch aflame or wobble, but was very, very small.

"I hate everything," he muttered, trying hard to ignore the pain in his legs, lower back and pride.

One final leap had him cursing everything once again as his legs protested, but he landed safely on the stable ground and rested for a few moments. His stomach protested along with his legs and his vision swam. He had used too much energy and his body was reminding him that it was not impressed. Starved and irritated beyond belief he looked to the mansion. It seemed that some of the inhabitants were coming to meet him. He noticed swords and sharpened claws and snarled. Everyone was against him! Even his own kind came to him with hostility. Standing shakily and baring his teeth he moved towards them, yes he was hurt, yes he was shaking with weakness but he was bloody pissed off and that lent him strength, more strength than most could hope to hold in a lifetime.

"Bloody well raise that sword at me you bastard."

**End**


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